I think this year I had no winter thread because although it was wet wet wet horrible nasty foul, it somehow did not seem very much like winter. But our spring was late, maybe 3 weeks late. I wonder if Germany gets a different effect from La Nina? They are saying La Nina might end shortly, so then, maybe the Willamette Valley in Oregon will get warm weather.

Beautiful colour and picture Bleggi. It seems that the flowering are a bit later here were I live. The leaves on the Lilacs are just showing themselves, but the spring flowers like Anemones and Hepatica have been blooming for some time.However, the leaves on the birches came early, in the middle of april. We also see June as the first summer month, but right now the temperature are nice, 20 degrees at 19:00, so it feels like summer

Bleggi, your peonia is beautiful! Still, I'm so sad that our house is gone, my father had two peonias, and I really loved them. Colour was the same as yours!

I think we slowly have to start a new thread "Summer in Germany" - today I finally saw the first swallows here.

Ah, and cherries ... I look forward getting them!

In this forum you can start your own threads so when you feel summer has begun start your summer thread -- NO need to follow the official seasons.

I know, Alice, basically I was remarking how fast spring has turned into pre-summer! It's amazing.

The other day it was still like this

but I see already elder growing the buds, and my father said, when elder blossoms it's early summer. Though he did not make it anymore for several years, what I will miss is his elder "champagne". But yesterday I had elder ice cream, that was really delicious!

_________________“One can measure the greatness and the moral progress of a nation by looking at how it treats its animals”(Mahatma Gandhi)

In Germany the flowers for the balkony should wait with planting until 16th of May. Today, 11th of May starts the "Ice Saints" with "St. Mamertus", on 12th St. Pancras, on 13th St. Servatius and on 14th St. Boniface. The last very cold day is on 15th of May St. Sophia. This year this Saints seemed to send the cold days one week and some days ago. So we can start with flowering and I did. I have only a very small balcony and have a new kind of flowers, calles "Tricolour". After some weeks I will show a picture and I hope the weather will help me to have nice flowers. Also I planted 3 tomates called "Balcony-Tomatoes". This kind doesn't need sticks and there are growing very small tomatoes, but many of them. The seed of it I took last year from a good looking tomato. I only put smaller sticks to fix plasticcaps when it is raining. Keep your fingers cross for me, please .Regards from Bleggi

Yes, I have also waited with planting flowers on my balcony. Somewhere I have explained the ice saints as well, was it in Olga's thread? Don't remember.

I cultivate my tomatoes myself, in February I buy the seeds and I have a small green house which is kept on my kitchen window sill. This weekend I plan to go to the garden centre and buy some flowers and afterwards I'll also plant the tomatoes on the balcony. Tricolour - is this the mini petunia? I had mini petunia with three colours in my hanging basket the last two years. Ha, just remembered, that I have photos in Facebook and quickly transferred it, though much can't be seen, that was last year right after planting the tricolour

_________________“One can measure the greatness and the moral progress of a nation by looking at how it treats its animals”(Mahatma Gandhi)

Felis: I did not read your explanation about the ice saints here otherwise I would not have written it.The tricolour-flowers I saw the first time last year in my neighbourhood and for me it is very new. I didn't know the name and had to go to some market gardens to get them.Perhaps it will be better I am writing not so much - I feel very silly.

Perhaps it will be better I am writing not so much - I feel very silly.

Oh, please - don't! Actually it's me who should feel silly! Especially blabbing about having written about the ice saints!

About the flowers, I'm really interested in knowing if you also got the same as I had, I have a hanging basket on my balcony and it's so difficult to plant something because it is difficult to keep them watered. My ex-husband made a contraption to lower it (Seilzug / tackle pulley). Still, some plants are not taking dry earth well, so I'm always on the lookout for something robust. I had the "million bells" petunias, but they are one colour at a time, and when I saw the tricolour ones I liked them so much. I hope they will have them again this year and they won't be sold out. So, please, don't be angry on me for writing so much, I am happy to exchange gardening experience, especially for the balcony, because I have no garden, only a balcony and I love to have it nice and green, but it never works as I would like to have it. Only growing tomatoes I have mastered, this is the third batch I'm growing and they are growing better and bearing more fruit than the ready plants I bought, at least it was like this last year, when I was not at home at the time for starting them.

You see, I'm writing too much again!

_________________“One can measure the greatness and the moral progress of a nation by looking at how it treats its animals”(Mahatma Gandhi)

The only thing I have heard is don't put the little plants out until after Easter -- and that is what my dad learned growing up in Indiana -- quite different from weather here.

Felis if you do not already use it in your flower pots you might try some ground coconut shell. I used to use peat moss as part of the soil, but when it gets dry it does not absorb water. Now that I use coconut instead, it is a little easier to keep the pots damp.

I buy little tomato plants as I don't do well when I try to start my own seeds.

Alice - maybe you can see, I have a lining for it made of coconut fiber, into the soil I have put some kind of waterstoring pellets, let's hope for the best. I have previously tried out to put Seramis on the bottom - don't know if that is familiar to you?This year is the third time I have grown my own tomatoes from seeds, it works quite well for me, last year I bought ready plants but the harvest from them was more than disappointing, especially the one which is supposed to be a "balcony tomato" plant and had small ones on it - more than those I did not get from it!

_________________“One can measure the greatness and the moral progress of a nation by looking at how it treats its animals”(Mahatma Gandhi)

Yes, there are many colours, red white, purple, pink, yellow. The granules I still had from a previous year, unfortunately I threw away the container. I tried to google it, but I think it's no longer on the market. It was fertilizer and I think it's kind of what is in those silica packets. Looks like, at least. Before the coconut fiber lining I had one made of some kind of carton, but that was not good. Though it did not soak, it did not really hold the water as well. The coconut thing is better and it stays for two, three years before it has to be replaced.

_________________“One can measure the greatness and the moral progress of a nation by looking at how it treats its animals”(Mahatma Gandhi)

Between our small and our big door from the gardenpart there is an iron jamb with a hole in(on) it. And what can we see in the later spring?

Standing near by we must be very careful. This hornet has a linie to fly and if we are standing in her way she is not very amused. But no problem - one step sideways and everything is okay This picture is not changed - I was near by that animal.

I was just looking when I wrote about the Salomon's Seals and it was on the 2nd of May. Now they are flowering in Estland on about 12th of June. This are more or less than 5 weeks. We had really a very crazy springtime. Early flowers - frozen vine - dry fields - farmers are crying. On other places is too much water - this is nature where nobody can change anything.Let us see what the summer is bringing...

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